Cannabis 'causes mental illness'

UK Telegraph ^ | April 8, 2003 | Sarah Womack

[FairOpinion]

A significant increase in cannabis smoking is leading to serious mental health problems among the young, two leading drugs experts said yesterday.

They warned that the effect of cannabis on the body was equal to cigarettes but was "far more dangerous" on the mind.

Prof John Henry, a toxicologist at Imperial College, London, said: "Regular cannabis smokers develop mental illness.

"There is a four-fold increase in schizophrenia and there is a four-fold increase in major depression and that is something very, very different to what cigarettes do to you."

Dr Ian Oliver, independent consultant to the UN Drug Control Programme, said cannabis on the market today was 10 times stronger than that smoked by the "flower power" generation of the Sixties. "The result is doped-up kids who lose all motivation to do anything except lie in bed," he said.

Doctors in Holland have given the medical condition its own label: "amotivational" syndrome. This, say medical practitioners in the field, simply means cannabis is creating a new generation of layabouts.

Last year the Government decided to reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug after hearing recommendations that it was much less damaging than other drugs.

But there were fears that the reclassification would see an increase in smoking cannabis, and Prof Henry said that use of the "soft" drug was on the rise.

"There are 13 million cigarette smokers and the numbers are going down," he said. "There are 3.2 million cannabis smokers and the numbers are going up.

"There is no Government health warning against cannabis but there are all kinds of restrictions against tobacco. People who smoke cannabis ought to be aware that it has equal effects on the body to cigarettes and worse effects on the mind."

Prof Henry and Dr Oliver were speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine conference in London.

[Havoc]

Now who's misinforming. The article says more likely to have. This is the same language used in countless studies that seek to establish whether or not there is a cause/effect relationship. It does not say that mentally ill people are more inclined to smoke pot. It says pot smoking is linked to a 4x greater likelyhood that one will become mentally ill. It's hard to become what one already is. And don't tell me, let me guess - libertarian, right..
Or perhaps you're one of those non-pot smoking pro-potsmoking enthusiasts that just happens to get ruffled for no particularly good reason and wants to make a constitutional issue out of the regulation of a demostrably bad drug. Hmm.....

[FairOpinion]

I am not a libertarian, but I think there are some things they do have in common with conservatives, as I understand it: limited government, fiscal responsibility.

But I was put off by their having legalization of drugs and anti-war stance as their official platform. I couldn't believe the articles by Harry Browne at the anti-war site. The anti-war, blame the US stance totally turned me off. It seems I was not the only one, because I just checked and there is a disclaimer on Harry Browne's webpage ( who ran as a Libertarian candidate for president!) that his views don't represent those of the Libertarian Party and he took off the link to antiwar.com from his own page. Hmmm.

[Rodney King]

Now who's misinforming. The article says more likely to have. This is the same language used in countless studies that seek to establish whether or not there is a cause/effect relationship. It does not say that mentally ill people are more inclined to smoke pot. It says pot smoking is linked to a 4x greater likelyhood that one will become mentally ill. It's hard to become what one already is. And don't tell me, let me guess - libertarian, right..

What are you talking about? All I said was that correlation does not prove causation. That the fact that pot smokers are more likely to have schizophrenia does not by itself prove that the pot caused the schizophrenia. That's all that I said. To say that the correlation proves causation is simply statistically wrong. And no, I am not a libertarian. I question questionable science no matter who says it, not just when it helps my position.

[Rodney King]

"This is the same language used in countless studies that seek to establish whether or not there is a cause/effect relationship."

Yes, if there is no corelation, then there is no causation. But, the existence of corelation does not prove causation.

[Quick1]

So apparently now correlation = causation? Someone tell the statistics majors!

[battlegearboat]

I remember Ashley Roachclip.

Unfortunately, Dave's not home.

Man.

[WaveThatFlag]

Abortion. Isolationist, yes. Pro-Drugs, yes. But also Pro-Abortion.

[merak]

A significant increase in cannabis smoking is leading to serious mental health problems among the young, two leading drugs experts said yesterday.

They warned that the effect of cannabis on the body was equal to cigarettes but was "far more dangerous" on the mind.

I don't have any use for drugs and recommend people avoid them, but that's BS. The experience of hundreds of years strongly indicates that grass is no more harmfull than booze. It was apparently outlawed because hemp is the most natural and economical thing in the world to make paper out of and Wayerhauser and Dupont wanted it out of the way. The term the oil industry uses for the same sort of thing is "disruptive technologies".

[Rodney King]

It was apparently outlawed because hemp is the most natural and economical thing in the world to make paper out of and Wayerhauser and Dupont wanted it out of the way.

I agree with you that pot is no worse than booze, but I think that the hemp is an economic miracle stuff is all crap. It sounds like a liberal myth to me. If it was, people in other countries would use it. If hemp was so great, they would be making paper and other stuff out of it in the Netherlands. (Of course, they do, but it costs a fortune.)

[pooh fan]

Listen people, humans always seek altered states on some level. Just look at little kids spinning around to get dizzy, then falling on the ground to feel the effects. Don Juan Castanada wrote several books about seeing God while under the influence of a variety of substances. Just because we can, doesn't make it right. We have choices--its like cheating on a spouse; you can if you want to, you DON'T because you know it will hurt the other person.

[VoteHarryBrowne2000]

You're correct in that everyone has a choice about what behavior to engage in before they do something. Dr. Amen's work has put some science into the debate about what drugs do to people's brains. His book shows what an alcoholic's brain looks like or what a pot smoker's brain looks like, among others. The evidence is undeniable about the damage being done. Some of the interesting scans he has are of people with brain injuries along with their behavioral histories. After reading his book, it became apparent to me that a lot of people that engage in drug use and violent crimes have damaged brains and that damage can be shown scientifically. I can't give a full review of the book here, but if you are interested in learning more check out his web site or read the book.

[MrLeRoy]

I am not saying that pot doesn't cause schizophrenia. I am also not saying that schizophrenics are more likely to smoke pot. Either or a mixture of both might be true. I am just saying that correlation does not prove causation, as this article seems to claim.

Exactly! Also, this version of the story left out a highly relevant fact: "Others, however, point to the fact that rates of schizophrenia have not risen dramatically in the past 50 years to correspond with increasing use of the drug." (from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/886617/posts)

[MrLeRoy]

Attention Libertarians: You are not Conservative. We don't want your moral relativism in our party. Get your own webpage.

Are you speaking officialy for JR?

Indeed---if you want to make the rules, WTF, get your own webpage.

[MrLeRoy]

I'm for legalizing pot, but if this really turns out to be true, w/pot being a causative agent in mental illness, I may have to support it for medicinal purposes only.

Alcohol can damage the brain---should we restrict it to medicinal use only?

[MrLeRoy]

my main concern is that if it became legal, and "socially acceptable"

Legality does not necessarily lead to social acceptability; tobacco is still legal but becoming increasingly socially unacceptable.

we would have a lot more people with fried brains causing serious problems in the society with their actions.

Most of the crimes now committed by drug addicts are done to get money for drugs; legalizing drugs would reduce their price and the associated crime. As for directly inducing criminal behavior: the U.S. Department of Justice's National Criminal Justice Reference Service (publication NCJ 145534) says, "Of all psychoactive substances, alcohol is the only one whose consumption has been shown to commonly increase aggression. [...] Marijuana and opiates temporarily inhibit violent behavior [...] There is no evidence to support the claim that snorting or injecting cocaine stimulates violent behavior. [...] Anecdotal reports notwithstanding, no research evidence supports the notion that becoming high on hallucinogens, amphetamines, or PCP stimulates violent behavior in any systematic manner."

[MrLeRoy]

it leads to other, stronger drugs

Recent studies by the RAND Corporation, and by economist Steven Pudney of the University of Leicester, have deflated the "gateway theory."

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Doctors in Holland have given the medical condition its own label: "amotivational" syndrome. This, say medical practitioners in the field, simply means cannabis is creating a new generation of layabouts.

"Hey dude, like while you're up man, wouldya hand me that bag of cheetos?"

[Cymbaline]

This explains DU.

[MrLeRoy]

Just because we can, doesn't make it right.

And just because it isn't right, doesn't make it anyone else's or government's business.

[MrLeRoy]

They spend more time worrying about people who may bring in some prescription medication for personal use from Mexico, than people who smuggle in truckloads of marijuana.

Why should they worry about either?